


settle my grievance

by brandywine421



Category: Daredevil (TV), Deadpool - All Media Types, Jessica Jones (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-10-06 03:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20500049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: The Avengers are MIA, HYDRA's running parts of the world and Matt finds some unexpected captives on a rescue mission for a friend.(Gen, the Matt/Frank is mostly background.)*Team Red!  Sort of.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I really want to sign up for Team Red bingo but I have several bingo cards already that I haven't worked on in ages. So here's a fill for the 'Trapped Together' square on my Marvel Bingo instead. Not a WIP because I'm still trying not to do that anymore, but totally can be considered a prequel if I decide to write the main event.

  
_With one grip on several psalms and one grip on the gun_  
_And it holds the rope_  
_That spins me in circles and dizzies my head_  
_Then says, "Sleep when you're dead"_

* * *

The base was mostly deserted, just like the voice in his ear promised it would be. He assumed the skeleton crew had something to do with all the explosions in Staten Island but that wasn't his business.

This wasn't his business either but if he wasn't on duty with everyone else, he could do this favor for an old friend.

Some people spend days off taking naps or getting drunk enough to take naps but Matt wasn't some people.  


* * *

  
Matt slid his hands over the smooth formless walls once he'd made his way through the upper levels. They were thicker than glass but he didn't scent any paint or chemicals - were they metal? He couldn't tell if they were hollow or solid and the lack of any discernible identity was a fucking problem.

"The fuck am I, Dave?" he asked the guy in his ear.

_"You don't tell me shit, Mike, and you cut the CCTV so I don't fucking know - are you inside already? Mind flipping on your bodycam? Should be a light on it."_

Light wasn't going to do shit for him, but maybe the hacker could see something he couldn't hear.

He ran his fingers over the reinforced suit - HYDRA were assholes but Melvin was a fucking genius - but didn't find remember the shape of a bodycam. He found the tater tots and the extra cell phone - the gun and three knives. Fuck it. He'd figure it out.

He put his hands back against the wall and made his way slowly, the only heartbeats he sensed were three floors up and out cold but the lack of echo in this section meant he needed to be more than hyper-vigilant.

_"You're such a dick, I got you pinging from the lockdown unit - the cam's on your sleeve, left side."_

He felt a sudden warmth on the wall and pressed his untethered ear against it. "_Vil -ear me - "_  


* * *

  
"Look - there is someone out there, what the heck is he doing?" Peter asked from the ceiling.

Wade studied the masked stranger with his hands splayed against the window to their cell. Sure, the lights in the hallway had fritzed out, but the cells were on separate generators to make sure they never had a moment of peace or darkness.

The blonde across the hall caught Wade's attention, miming peek-a-boo when he totally didn't have time for games - at least not that one -

"I think Patsy's knows him - she's telling us he's blind," Peter said, dropping down by the wall and pressing his hands over the stranger's gloved hands like they were in a Lifetime movie. "Daredevil, can you hear me?" Peter yelled into the glass.

Daredevil? Wade had heard of him, seen his work. Spider-Man, sure, great kid, cool toys; but the Devil of Hell's Kitchen was definitely more his speed.

Daredevil stepped away and patted his arm, switching on a flashlight. "Camera," Wade realized. He glanced at the corners of their cells and saw that the normally red lights were - not red.

_Well_, today might be interesting after all.  


* * *

"Someone's in there," Matt said and Dave cursed him through the speaker.

_"Running facial recognition now, damn, turn around, let me see who else - you're looking for a prisoner, right?"_

"Sort of," Matt replied. Anne hadn't been entirely clear, just that if he was lucky he'd find her ex, and if he was unlucky he needed tater tots. "Let me know if you see any doors or locks - I can't sense anything no matter what you see."

_"Wow, I can't believe I forgot you were blind until right now, I take everything back, you're doing great - he's doing great!"_

"Who are you talking to?" Matt asked.

_"Got a hit off the captives - Wade Wilson, Mutant affiliated, wow, Spider-Man, isn't he supposed to be on the Raft? Oh, and Trish Walker - she's supposed to be on the Raft, too - what the hell kind of place is this? Does Frankie know you're doing this mission?"_

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him - let me know if Staten Island goes off without a hitch and we'll talk. So, Deadpool and Spider-Man are in the same cell, who's in with Walker?" Matt asked, pressing his hands and ear to where Trish should be but not hearing anything.

_"Nobody but there's one of those fucked up cryo tanks in the next cell with a dude in it - I think you're going to have to find another way in, no doors."_

Figured this would get complicated. They had to get oxygen and food into the cells somehow, probably from above. He got a running start and managed to climb up one of the walls and find a handhold at the very top - too narrow to fit his body, but a definite gap. He used his fingers to slide a few feet until there was enough space to fit and wedged himself into the opening.

_"Uh, Matt - Mike, I mean? Where are you right now?"_

So Lieberman was mapping the new heartbeats on the other side of the cells. Six, all panicked but controlled, not pumped full of adrenaline like the guards. These were techs. HYDRA-trained techs, but still. He switched off the comm and the camera and inhaled a lungful of the canned air and started calculating the easiest drop from the top.  


* * *

Wade grabbed him by the neck and held him at arm's length, shaking him until his teeth clacked together. "**Relax**."

"But - " Peter started but Wade was in one of his moods and dropped him without another word and turned his head back toward the electrified square in the ceiling.

"He's doing something. He won't have backup, he's solo so we have to give him time to throw hands," Wade said finally.

Peter knew he was supposed to respect his elders but he was allowed to be in a mood, too, with the first non-HYDRA person he'd seen in weeks now out of his sight.

"You saw him too, it wasn't a hallucination because you saw it, too," Wade said without looking away from the square.

"Yeah, I saw him, Wade," Peter said, forcing himself to breathe. "Relax."

Wade turned to him. "Right. Right."

"Right," Peter nodded, holding his lidless gaze.  


* * *

"Right," Matt muttered, switching the comm and body cam back on as he reached up to see if he was bleeding. "Okay, that's a yes then." His fingers came back wet and sticky. "Fuck."

_"You can say that again, where - oh okay, so you found the command center for the base, I see - turn so - okay, maybe sit down because that's a lot of blood, is that your - "_ David rambled in his ear.

"How do I open the cells?" Matt cut him off.

_"One of your pockets has a flash drive if the Sister kitted you out correctly, I assume she was in on this plan?"_

"I plead the fifth," Matt said, finding the pocket and pulling out the tiny cross that flipped open. His mom was smart as shit.

They'd been infiltrating HYDRA bases since they lost DC but the data mining wasn't much help when the resistance was made up of vigilantes and recovering villains. Sure, they had tons of Intel, but no cops or superheroes on the right side to pass it along without showing their hands.

David gave him directions to the right port and he pushed in the stick. "Should I start smashing buttons now?"

_"Nope, let's just see how well you can follow instructions - put your left hand on the third panel - "_

Matt hated computers.  


* * *

"_I don't get it,_" a voice trickled through the speakers. "_How can there not be doors?"_

Peter scrambled up Wade's back to perch on his shoulders and get as close to the hatch as he could without feeling the spark of the electricity. "Daredevil?"

_"Oh, the speakers work so I guess you're not completely useless - yes, this is Daredevil and I'm trying to figure out the doors, any hints?"_

"The roof - ceiling - screws in, they don't let us out unless they gas us first," Peter called back.

_"Sure, okay, I'll - fuck, I don't have time for that. Wait - Hellcat? Trish, fine, but code names are still a thing - oh. The hatches are electrified?"_

Peter was ready when the blue glow dimmed and disappeared and had his hands on the square, trying to use all his super-strength to push.

"_Huh_," Daredevil said a moment before the hatch finally gave - from the magnetic release and not Peter's struggle so he leaned back to wait. "_Okay, did that help?"_

"It'll be a tight fit, but," Wade started.

_"Good, by the way, I'm here looking for a friend of a friend, not that I'm not glad to see all of you since you're all listed as inmates on the Raft, not an underground HYDRA compound, but - I'm looking for Eddie Brock - "_

"Maybe he's the guy they keep on ice?" Peter asked, climbing through the thin space from the still-ascending hatch to lay flat on the roof of his cell and offer his hand down for Wade.

_"All right, I'll head that way,_" Daredevil said. "_I went to college with Anne - ah, so you're the one I'm supposed to bribe with tater tots, is Trish all right?"_

Wade was plastered beside him in the crawlspace and gave him a wide grin. "I hope he left some guys alive so I can get some vengeance in."

Peter just wanted a ride home, thanks.  


* * *

By the time Peter and Wade made it to the hallway, Daredevil already had the Cryo tank open and was directing Trish Walker and a wet dude he'd never seen before to the exit. Peter stuck close to Wade, just in case this went bad like everything else that had happened over the past few months.

"You aunt's in Canada, she's been coordinating things from there," Matt said after introductions were one and done. He stepped over a twitching body without missing a beat. "The Avengers are MIA, but we're - not me specifically, but people - are working on that."

"Wait, the Avengers are missing?" Trish asked, reaching for his arm. As soon as she made contact, Matt stopped like he'd been shocked and pivoted to face her.

"Don't touch me," he said and she let go and held her hands up in apology.

"Sorry."

Matt stared at the spot she'd touched and listened to something - his comm this time - before he spoke again. "You've been away a long time. They have patches, skin-to-skin tranquilizers. They get a lot of us that way so touching is off limits."

"Oh wow," Peter whistled. "Definitely getting new gloves."

"Where are you taking us?" Wade asked.

Matt nodded his chin to the parking lot where a single van was pointedly **not** on fire among the rest of the vehicles. "Got a ride, but it'll be a tight squeeze. Dave's better at the synopsis, he hates being called Dave so do it as much as possible."

"Anne?" Eddie asked.

"If you promise not to eat her boyfriend, I'm allowed to give you an address but we can handle that when we're back in neutral territory," Matt said. He nodded toward Wade. "Mutants are a whole other ball game, but we'll tell you what we know."

"People know about mutants now?" Wade asked slowly.

"HYDRA controls 18 states, people know about all kinds of things now," Matt replied darkly.

The door of the van slid open and a scruffy guy leaned out. "The hell are you waiting for, get in - we're in so much shit."  


* * *

"So, the Avengers are your _deus ex machina_?" Wade asked, tracking the Devil to a common area after he'd showered off six months of captivity and put on actual clothes.

"Nope, but they probably have a better shot of liberating the states we've lost before HYDRA gets any further inland. Not that they aren't already operating nationwide, just - it's too big," Matt answered without turning around. He smacked the coffeepot forcefully and the red light flashed on. "Kid's talking to his aunt upstairs, I don't think he gets it."

"I don't get it," Wade admitted.

"America lost a war we didn't know we were fighting. Nobody heard a peep from the superheroes once our military switched their insignia - I'd say it happened overnight but it actually took a few weeks."

"Few weeks doesn't seem long enough for what you're talking about," Wade said.

"We're pretty sure there's some magic or 'reality warping' involved, but what the fuck do we know about that?" Matt replied with a heavy sigh.

A tiny nun burst into the room followed by Frank Castle and Wade almost swooned. He needed an autograph, New World Order be damned.

But Castle beelined for the Devil, freezing a few steps away when the Sister cleared her throat.

**Ah**, the Sister had dibs, he filed away. She patted Matt down, clucked over his bandages and tucked his head into her shoulder when he started mumbling about forgiveness and fathers.

"You the alien?" Castle asked, noticing him and moving to block his view as the nun steered Matt to a seat.

"Nope, hot blonde lawyer, the lady one, took them somewhere else. Thought I'd throw in with the Devil if he'll have have me," Wade said, feeling sized up.

"Me, too. If it's on the table, I'd like to help," Peter said, shuffling in with red-rimmed eyes.

Castle turned slowly to glare behind him. "_Spider-Man_? The fuck did you do, Matt?"

"Language, please. He says you're not sick but you look sick," the Sister said to Wade with a short glance at Peter.

"Stage four cancer, but got that X-gene working double time," Wade shrugged.

"Deadpool," the nun nodded thoughtfully. "Xavier could probably use you, or the other one with hair."

"They didn't break me out of a terrarium," Wade replied. "Who runs your recruitment, I'll take it up with them?"

"Show him the armory, Frankie, I'll vet the boy when I'm done checking his head," the Sister said after a beat.

Matt broke his silence. "I don't have a concussion, I just want some coffee and a nap before he yells at me."

"You **know** why you couldn't come to Staten Island - you're off the roster for explosives," Frank said, throwing up his hands. "That's no excuse for - "

"_Frankie_, I gave you a job. You can have your 'domestic' later when you don't have an audience," the Sister said.

"You called him 'Frankie' twice, what did he do to get on your good side?" Matt asked, almost pouting.

Wade wanted to stay and see how this whole 'domestic' thing played out but Castle growled and dragged him into the hallway.  


* * *

"Peter, this is Sister Maggie, she's a very good friend," Matt said, cradling the styrofoam cup Peter brought over.

Sister Maggie's nostrils flared and she swept Matt's shaggy hair aside and pressed a kiss on his forehead. "_Really_, Matthew?"

"I'm not that religious, but it's nice to meet you," Peter said. Aunt May looked like she'd aged 6 years and not 6 months and no matter how much he ached to be with her in Canada - he needed to be here. She needed him to be here.

"Matthew's my son, but _also_ a very good friend," Maggie said quietly. Peter thought he hid his surprise but Matt smiled. "I don't like him roaming too far outside of Hell's Kitchen, we need him here - but the world needs Daredevil, and Spider-Man, more right now."

"Sister Maggie talks to your Aunt a lot, and Jessica is a friend - so finding the two of you, and a wild card in a low tier compound in Ithaca wasn't on our radar," Matt said. Peter hadn't heard Trish come in but gave her a wave and motioned to the coffee.

"They spoke with you regularly on monitored lines," Sister Maggie said.

"I haven't spoken to anyone since they arrested me," Trish replied, pouring herself a cup. Peter nodded his agreement. "And we never went to the Raft."

"Aunt May said she had a feeling she wasn't talking to the real 'me'," Peter picked up. "She said that there were a lot of politics involved and - things were 'fraught'. That's code for FUBAR," he added.

"Jessica said something similar a few weeks back. That you were more like Patsy than the Trish she sent away, whatever that means. She'll be here soon," Matt said. "How do you feel?"

"What happened to you?" Sister Maggie seemed to pick up on something in his voice and turned to Trish with appraising eyes.

"I knew Eddie from when I worked at the radio station," Trish said. "He had enough time to give me the basics and pass over his - friend - before they froze him."

"We didn't know you had the alien," Peter said. "Wade said you were a gray hat."  
  
"I am never doing a favor for Eddie again, believe me, but Vee kept it together until today - probably kept me alive, too, I don't think I would have been enhanced enough for - everything there," Trish said, careful not to mention the testing. They didn't have to talk about the testing and he definitely wasn't telling these people before he told Aunt May. "I'm fine being a gray hat," she said after a beat, swallowing thickly.

"Oh, we're all gray hats these days," Matt yawned.

The Sister tapped his knuckles around the cup. "Drink your coffee, I need to debrief the teams. No luck finding the Supers but we took back another borough. Don't pout about being left out, if you don't follow the rules then no one will. Did you see medical?"

"Yes and I don't have a concussion," Matt repeated.

Peter and Trish shared a look but Sister Maggie only hummed her doubt. "Fair enough. But you're still off the list tomorrow because you ran an op today. You have to deal with your new recruits and use your head instead of your fists for a bit."  


* * *

"If you guys were underground this whole time, who's on the Raft?" Matt asked the trio of guests that followed him home. Home being the third floor of a warehouse on the docks this week, but well-ventilated and dry unlike some of his other homes in the area. Sure, he still had an apartment with paid in full rent but Foggy and Karen rotated neighborhood families through the place on their way to safe exits.

Wade looked up from one of the many guns he was cleaning to suck up to Frank, or else he had a fetish but Matt was going with the first one. "Does it matter?"

"Maybe," Matt considered. "You're a big guy, probably the same body shape as Captain A, right? And Trish could pass for Natasha depending on the wig."

"What about Pete?" Wade asked.

"Smart guy in a weird tech suit, could pass for Stark if you aged him half a century," Matt hummed.

"Please say that to his face when you meet him, oh my God," Peter laughed.

Trish swirled the dark liquor in her plastic cup. "If they were keeping track with sensors or weight, we'd maybe match. Your Devil-radar couldn't tell us apart if we didn't talk, could it?"

"Maybe not," Matt conceded. "I'd smell the difference, maybe but shapes aren't my thing. If they put the matching Avengers in your cells on the Raft, fed the surveillance from your cells in the compound to whoever's monitoring it from afar - it might be something."

"They probably put Bruce in the cryo tank, so Eddie and his alien would be like putting the Hulk on ice, like a human shape and a giant monster shape - Venom could probably be as big as the Hulk." Peter said. "What if they are on the Raft?"

Frank filled his senses, sliding both arms around his waist and planting a coarse and welcome kiss to the back of his neck. "If the Avengers are on the Raft then we've been looking in all the wrong places for weeks."

"Can you get us the specs?" Matt asked, leaning back until Frank's full warmth covered his back.

"You know we aren't cleared to take the Raft, you'll throw the whole plan outta whack," Frank warned, supporting his weight and settling his chin on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but can we get them anyway?" Matt asked. "Pretty please?"

"Oh, he's working the eyelashes, Punisher can't say no to the eyelashes," Jessica snickered, swaggering into the space with what sounded like several unopened bottles of something.  


* * *

  
_And it pulled me down_  
_And showed me my demons lined up in a sequence, forming a crowd_  
_It was so long_  
_With a piece of happy home that they stripped from the bone_  
_I did not react_  
_I settled my grievance by crafting a mask_  
_And I never looked back_


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

"Few things you gotta know about working with the Devil," Frank said conversationally, as if he hadn't just busted Wade filling his pockets with ammo when he was sure the apartment was silent with people that could still sleep.

"Are you his keeper?" Wade countered. He didn't like working with couples, always got messy.

"Nah, but Sister told me to brief you," Frank said. "You know him before you got locked up?"

"Reputation only," Wade shrugged. "Matched what we saw in the compound."

"He didn't kill. One of the things we never agreed on - will never agree on. But this is war and he - gets that it's not the same. He does what has to be done - but he's not a soldier, doesn't think like one, doesn't want to."

Wade sighed and sat down on one of the crates. "Kid's like that, too."

"Matt does what has to be done, but after, he has to talk to his Ma. He'll kill HYDRA because he knows it's self-defense. If he gets - twitchy - just remind him."

He considered it. "Pete's got clean hands, I made sure of it. Didn't know his home would be a war zone when we got out, though."

"You probably need to have a talk with the kid, then, if you're putting him on your six."

Frank had only been gone a few moments before Peter shuffled in with a yawn. "You guys are loud but can I take a rain check on the lecture? I already heard it from Aunt May and Ms. Jones."

Wade didn't know if that was fair since he'd called dibs on the mentor job when they locked this baby child in his lab cage.

"I got your back, Wade, and HYDRA - it's self-defense after what they did to us in there. Never let them take us alive, right?" Peter asked, looking up at him with liquid eyes.

Wade opened his arms for a hug. "Right, let's hug it out - "

"Nope, I'm going back to bed, it's the first time in months we've been in a real safe place and I'm going to make the best of it," Peter said, poking him in the chest.

* * *

"If it's magic, what about Dr. Strange or the Maximoff girl?" Wade asked. He was relieved at first that Matt and Frank hadn't abandoned them to bang, but if a silence lasted more than one minute thirty, PDA was imminent. They just had lunch but the struggle was real apparently.

"Missing, the wizard's whole building disappeared," Jessica answered.

"What about Danny Rand, he had magic, right?" Trish asked.

There was a heavier silence and Wade glanced up and caught Peter's worried look.

Jessica turned to Matt. "You see him today?"

"Breakfast and meditation, you?" Matt answered.

"Went there before HQ," Jessica replied.

"He didn't have his mojo when they caught him. Fuckers chopped his arm off," Frank told Trish, avoiding everyone's startled looks. "Made an example out of him."

"Christ," Trish whispered.

"We saved the arm and they reattached it and shit, but - it'll never work the same, he's doing great with buttons and shoelaces," Jessica said. "We don't have any magic sources to tap. Danny's on logistics now."

"Who else did you lose?" Peter asked.

Matt straightened out of his cuddle puddle. "We didn't lose Danny. He'll be fine once Colleen gets back."

Frank looped an arm around his shoulder, kissing him softly before making his way to top off the coffeepot. "Settle down, they're not hassling you."

"Colleen's kicking ass in Asia, they need her more than we do at the moment," Jessica sighed. "Nobody's heard from Luke since we lost Harlem. You know this is too big, right? Way too big. Your weird powers might not even work underwater, Frank threw you off a couple of boats and you really didn't like it."

Peter leaned his head on his elbows. "I'm not the best swimmer either."

Wade was being very quiet so Matt centered his attention on the guy and Jessica followed his lead until everyone, he hoped, was looking at him.

"That's officially creepy, but effective. The Raft's made of metal, right? If we can get it out of the water, we can eliminate a lot of the scuba diving shit," Wade said.

"Magneto doesn't work with us," Frank offered from the kitchen. "And the pressure shift might kill everyone inside if you yank it up."

"Sharks," Peter said.

"What?" Matt asked.

"I'm trying to remember - they had that underwater lab to experiment on sharks and the sharks broke out. Remember?" Peter asked.

Matt didn't remember that.

"Deepest bluest, that's a movie. Not real, but possibly the best idea ever - sharks!" Wade said excitedly.

"You want me to see if Aquaman can send us sharks?"

"Well, I was thinking more we put Venom in a shark, but - "

Peter slammed both palms against the table. "Time out. You know Aquaman?"

"Venom would love being a shark," Trish murmured but closed her mouth with a snap.

Matt shrugged. "He can't get involved, but he owes me a couple of favors. Like, he won't send his armies to back us up on land, but he might loan us some sharks."

"It's not about the sharks, I was trying to visualize - never mind - can Aquaman get us into the Raft without all this?" Peter asked, motioning to the impressive pile of notes.

Everyone turned to stare at Matt. Frank pushed his phone into his hand. "Call the fish."

"You're not even on my team," Matt complained.

"Yeah, hey, I thought you worked solo," Trish said suddenly.

Frank laughed behind him. "Sister Maggie lets him get away with that, but May Parker pulled rank."

"What's that mean?" Peter asked.

"Deadpool protected you when she couldn't," Jessica answered. "And Matt only gets to work solo because Sister coddles him but you guys asked before she could bring up any alternatives."

"Don't shoot guns next to my ear and don't ever lift me into the air without warning," Matt warned.

"One time," Jessica muttered and he sensed her giving him the finger. "Anyway, I need Trish on my squad because I know how she works, and I want her to sweet-talk the alien into helping me get into Harlem."

"Sister Maggie doesn't assign me out of Hell's Kitchen unless I'm with a team, so it's not as big of a deal as they're making it sound," Matt said. "Call King Arthur 2." The phone dialed obediently.

"You know more than one King Arthur?" Peter asked. "I don't think I want to be on your team anymore."

* * *

"Wow, you're going to scare the shit out of everyone we're trying to help," Jessica said when Venom materialized in place of Eddie.

He sneered at her and Peter was utterly impressed that she didn't flinch. "I am not in charge of search and rescue. I was told to consider it a buffet."

"I like him, can we keep him?" Wade perked up.

Matt sighed. "I don't think it was put exactly that way but if they shoot at you, or say the cursed words, well, you can fuck them up. But civilians - "

"I discriminate on age and species, not civility," Venom said. "No children and no dogs."

"If people see you hanging out with him, maybe they'll know he's cool," Peter offered. He wasn't sure if the extended tongue lolling was agreement or another test but Matt shook a finger in his general direction.

"Just listen to Eddie, and Trish, if you can," Matt said. "I can't ask you to trust everyone, but we've got a common enemy. Deal?"

Venom broke **A**ll **T**he **R**ules and licked Matt, pushing him back a step until he bumped into Wade who'd taken backup position automatically. Before anyone could scold him, Eddie reappeared in Venom's place with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry, man, he doesn't mean anything by it."

"You sure?" Peter asked. "Because I know I'm probably the least experienced in the room, but - "

Eddie shrugged. "He knows better than to do it in public."

"Yeah, even if the Sister let you play with the Devil, the Punisher's got second veto. Good luck with the swimming, guys," Jessica flipped them off and ushered Eddie out of the room to meet Danny. Hopefully they would have good news on Harlem if they didn't drown tonight.

* * *

Peter thumped his fingers absently on the dashboard of the van. "You don't think it's a bad idea for just the three of us to be on this plan?"

"You don't have to come," Matt said from the back.

"That's not what I mean."

"Don't you usually work solo, I mean, Stark wasn't always your sugar daddy," Wade offered.

Matt leaned forward between the seats. "I know you'd rather be in Harlem, but - "

"I really suck at swimming. Do you think Aquaman will laugh at me if I ask for a life jacket?"

Matt didn't hesitate. "Absolutely. He will absolutely laugh at you."

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

  
"Thanks, I hate it," Matt said after Arthur explained how the submarine worked. He had one hand braced against the window and Wade didn't think that was a good sign when they were still bobbing under the docks.

Peter elbowed him. "Be nice."

King Arthur of Atlantis, not Aquaman according to Matt's instructions, laughed and jostled Matt into a bear hug. "Ah, Matthew and I are old friends, he got me out of a few assault charges back in my un-glory days. He's a great lawyer."

"You're a lawyer?" Wade asked, humming appreciatively at Matt's shrug.

"I can't really give you the keys if you don't know how to drive it," Arthur said, not seeming to notice that he was telling a blind guy that he was a bad driver.

Matt shrugged again. "You're just taking us to see some sharks, it's none of your business if we swim away, or climb through a conveniently drilled hole in an underwater prison."

Arthur sighed. "Well."

"Great lawyer," Matt pointed at himself. "You said so, these guys heard it."

"I do want to help - but I was never here," Aquaman said and Peter and Wade nodded because nobody would believe them anyway. And sharks.

* * *

"Once this whole world-wide emergency is over, I'm totally coming to New York to hang out, I need you to teach me - all that - " Arthur called from the Sub after they'd loaded the computer virus and sealed off the floors they needed. This floor was now clear thanks to Wade and his stolen Icers - to prevent further holes in the underwater prison - and Matt and Peter's tag-team punching.

"When this whole emergency is over, I plan on an extended nap so make an appointment," Matt replied. "We'll send any friendlies we find this way."

"I'll offer refreshments and - oh yeah, non-disclosure agreements, go have fun," Arthur said.

"Your friends are awesome," Peter whispered.

"My friends are lazy, but you guys are winning me over. Remind me later when I yell at you for that somersault, you almost knocked off my mask," Matt whispered back.

"Jackpot!" Wade called from a room littered with half-dead guards.

Matt was drawn immediately to the large metal box, coffin-shaped like a cryo tank but without all the attachments. "Someone in here," Matt said, pressing his cheek against the smooth surface. He tapped on the side.

Wade didn't hear anything but Peter perked up. "You got that - is it really called a sonic screwdriver?"

"Yup," Wade grinned, pulling out the small laser and going to work on the hinges.

Peter grabbed Matt's outstretched hand and swung him into the next room so he could use his super-senses to check for more chambers. "Fake wall - Spidey, can you - " Matt slid his hands down a thick glass mirror. They really had to work on him and glass but all things considered, he was being a trooper with the underwater stuff.

"Uh, guys? I don't know this one," Wade called.

Peter swung back and recognized Black Panther climbing out of the box on unsteady feet. "Oh, that's the King of Wakanda."

"Oh. Sure, more royalty, that's just great."

"Go help the Devil, he's trying to figure out mirrors again. Hi, Mr. T'Challa, Sir, if you'll follow me," Peter gave Black Panther his friendliest smile - before he remembered the mask.

* * *

"Hey, I know you. Who are you?" Matt asked, raising his hand to risk death and touch the Black Widow without permission. Peter and Wade both opened their mouths to warn him but - she caught his hand and pressed his knuckles to her lips.

"We're going to have a very thorough conversation later, but - help me out," Natasha said. "Status - "

"You're going to wait on the sub like your friends and handle all that, we have, like, three more rooms and only twenty minutes left on our computer virus," Peter said as she staggered on her feet.

"Please," Wade said helpfully, motioning to the string of webbing that led to the exit. She glared at each of them but actually followed instructions and followed the guide web out of the room.

"This one smells extra weird," Matt said, leading the way without hesitation despite his own warning.

Peter and Wade froze when they saw the glowing orb of magical light floating in the center of the biggest room.

Matt turned his face, following something the rest of them couldn't see. He raised his hand as if to touch but Peter caught his wrist.

"Dude. We need to discuss, like, outside," Peter said.

"Good job pulling rank, so proud," Wade grinned, catching both by the collars and dragging them back to the hallway. "Now. That shit ain't right."

"Witches," Matt said.

Peter and Wade stared at him. "There's a glowing ball of light in there that we can't see past and you get - _witches?"_

"At least four, inside the chambers, the corners," Matt frowned. He wiggled his fingers. "There's some kind of - cord stretching between them."

Wade stroked his chin. "All right. Let's think about this. You see witches in peril, we see a giant bubble of death."

"You think - we should pop it?" Peter asked.

"Of course not," Wade replied. "At least not with our hands."

Matt hummed. "Right. Did Arthur have his pointy fork with him?"

"Teamwork makes the dream work, oh my God, be right back," Peter lit up and swung out of the room.

* * *

"I don't know about this, Matt," Arthur hesitated. A couple of the recently caffeinated Avengers were along for support.

"We don't have time for any better ideas, we need to get the magic people out of the boxes and go home. Do you want to explain to my mother - " Matt started but King Arthur of Atlantis shoved the Trident into his hand. "Put a keg on ice just for you, buddy, if we don't die."

"You probably should've started with that," Peter said from his perch on Wade's shoulders.

"I have many questions," King T'Challa murmured from his heavy lean against Natasha.

"Maybe I should do it, Boss," Wade offered. "In case it explodes or something."

"He is immortal," Peter said.

"Well, if it explodes, this whole place goes down. And I'm not the boss," Matt shrugged, testing the Trident's weight. "Do you want it?"

"Yes, please," Wade beamed, taking the weapon and hurling it at the glowing sphere of magic over everyone's protest for not having time to run away.

Instead of a tragically explosive blast, there was a muted 'pop' and a flurry of magical sparks that had Matt swatting at air like he was being attacked by bees. Arthur glared at Wade and Peter and picked his magical fork off the floor as the room dimmed back to normal.

"Sorry, fire in the hole and all that," Wade said, brushing off their Devil while Peter swung to the first chamber to start lasering the hinges. "That was anti-climactic."

"We have curfew, get your sonic screwdriver going," Matt instructed.

T'Challa raised his hand again. Natasha patted his shoulder. "We'll make a list of questions, I think we'll have a lot of overlap."

Steve Rogers stumbled into the room. "Um, I don't know what you just did but the sharks are going nuts out here."

* * *

"Shit, so busted," Matt groaned when he led the shambling group of rescued superheroes toward the van. The flashing lights of a police cruiser wasn't promising considering the distant echo of explosions and, well, roaring. He swiped off his mask and passed it to Arthur, sliding on his sunglasses.

"You see nothing," Wade warned the group.

"Sergeant," Matt greeted the officer. "What's the occasion?"

"Should've known you were pulling something off when they didn't see you in Harlem," Mahoney replied. "Shit, is that - of _course_. You done?"

"Depends, I guess," Matt countered. "What happened in Harlem?"

"Started in Harlem, happening everywhere now - Riots started about twenty minutes ago. Hell's Kitchen is pretty locked down but - "

Arthur raised his hand, these Royals were so polite in public. "I'll get your friends back to HQ if you need to go."

Matt took the mask back. "Thank you, point me in a direction, Sarge."

"Maybe Queens?" Mahoney said, waving at Peter who waved back. "I can give the rest of these guys an escort, if they're up for it."

"Awesome, Mr. Stark, do whatever Sister Maggie tells you to - she's the boss so please don't make me look bad," Peter told Iron Man before latching onto Matt & Wade's arms. "Fair warning, I'm going to lift you in the air now, D."

"Can't be worse than swimming with sharks - don't tap that keg until we're done, Arthur!"

"No promises!" King Arthur called after them.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

  
"You sure you're all right? You don't need, hell, some Pepto or something?" Matt was asking Eddie when Peter and Wade joined him outside of HQ. They'd split up when Wade got the keys to a tank.

Eddie took Matt by both shoulders. "Relax. You gave V, like, the best night ever and I'm reasonably sure I have permission from Jessica to ask Trish out on a date."

"As long as you got permission, I can't keep dealing with your girl drama - Anne is doing well and God knows she deserves it. If you break any more of my friends' hearts, it's not going to be a fun time for anyone," Matt warned.

"I got it, promise," Eddie beamed at him. Peter didn't believe him at all.

"Did you absolutely need the tank?" Matt asked Wade once they were inside.

"Yes. It was an absolute necessity," Wade replied.

Matt tilted his head toward Peter for confirmation.

"Yes. For absolute awesomeness, it was necessary," Peter agreed.

Natasha stepped out of the room before they made it inside and while he wasn't still terrified of the gorgeous spy, he was still relieved that Matt stepped ahead to meet her.

"Sister Maggie is a badass," Natasha said. "Never thought I'd meet someone that could shut down Cap and Tony at the same time."

"She's been ordering unruly children around for years, so," Matt shrugged.

"Are you guys all okay?" Peter asked.

"Let's see for ourselves, I don't trust her," Wade said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

She winked at him and offered her arm to Matt. He sniffed thoughtfully and didn't take the opening. "I'm beginning to think you're right. Have we met, Ms. Romanov?"

"They sent me to recruit you, ages ago but you were all cute and heartbroken so I took a rain check," Natasha replied.

Matt's face cleared with recognition. "Ah. The girl that couldn't tell the truth."

"Polygraph motherfucker never took the bait," Natasha said.

"If by bait you mean the excessive cleavage you liked to flash around to make Foggy have to excuse himself from the room every time you walked in then you're right," Matt said, lowering his voice. "I'm blind, and more of an ass man anyway."

Natasha fluttered her eyelashes and Peter turned to look up at Wade. "Should we leave?"

"No, this is the good part," Wade replied.

Matt turned his head slightly. "Hi, Frank. Mind putting the gun down around the kid?"

Peter hadn't noticed Frank at the end of the hall but he had two guns at the ready.

Wade laughed. "Told you."

Frank didn't lower either gun. "That's the Black Widow, Red, just, take a couple of steps back."

"We found the Avengers locked in pods," Peter explained.

"Good job, but that doesn't mean she gets to be that close to Red," Frank replied, but he did lower one gun.

"Ah. Ass man, got it," Natasha said, raising both hands with a grin and stepping back. "He's all yours, Mr. Castle."

Frank finally holstered his other gun but Matt crossed his arms and frowned at him. "Sorry."

"Alpha male bullshit isn't winning you any points, Asshole," Matt thumped The Punisher in the chest. "Come on, Spidey, let's check on your friends."

"_Finally_," Peter said. "Everyone's priorities are messed up around here, I'm starving."

"That's a priority I can get behind, you are the superior team lead," Wade agreed.

Peter was relieved and a little shocked to see the group of rescued heroes sitting quietly sipping from plastic cups and nibbling on snack machine crackers. "Oh."

Tony shook off the blanket and started to get up but Sister Maggie emerged from the corner with a raised finger that froze him in place. "Peter - "

"Stranger danger?" The nun asked him.

"Oh, no ma'am, we're friends - are you all right, Mr. Stark?" Peter walked over and accepted the man's hug. God, he should have checked on him sooner.

"They said you were captured, too - are you all right?" Tony asked.

"Oh, sure, Deadpool had my back, and now Daredevil," Peter said. "Did they fill you in on what happened to the world?"

Tony glanced at Sister Maggie like she was a snake but she was patting down Matt - and then Wade - by the door. "She told us a little but wouldn't let us do anything but sit down and hydrate until you guys got back."

"She doesn't trust anyone but the Devil, which is a little concerning when she's supposed to be a holy woman," someone said. Peter blinked when he recognized Loki sitting unhappily between Wanda and Dr. Strange.

Sister Maggie turned to Matt and then pointed at the couch of magically-inclined folks. "Can you approve them first?"

Peter didn't know how Matt 'saw' things but he seemed to zero in on Loki like a target. "Do you have a problem with my Mother, Wizard? Because I can give you a problem - "

"Red, that's Battle of New York guy," Frank hissed.

"I don't give a - " Matt started. Peter winced but Loki held up his hands in what looked like an apologetic gesture and Wade snapped a hand over Matt's mouth.

"I apologize for any unintended disrespect," Loki said. "I followed a distress call from my brother and was captured - I will take my leave from this realm once I find the bumbling fool - and find out how they were able to control my magic."

"Ow!" Wade yanked his hand back with a glare at Matt. "You didn't have to bite that hard."

"Where's Arthur?" Matt asked.

Sister Maggie waved absently. "He's babysitting the guests that followed instructions and finished their Gatorade and protein bars. The King of Wakanda and that nice wizard, oh, and Captain Rogers, he'll be joining us for Mass next week."

Peter laughed at Matt's befuddled expression and for the first time in months, hell, maybe longer - he felt like things might be all right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Lyric tag & title belong to Matt Maeson's 'The Mask', which doesn't work for a singular hero, but in my head totally sums up Team Red _(The psalms! The gun! The spinning rope/web! Okay, I'm sleepy. )_


End file.
